Page 92 of WitchBorn

Tired.

I got the impression that he thought he needed to save me, and it made me mad.I’m no damsel to be saved, Finn. You saw what I could become.

You are so fucking beautiful.

Then why are you hiding in the dark?The beast crept forward and then roared, smoke rising from its skin, but beneath, as the ooze blistered away, was mortal flesh. Finn inside, fighting for freedom. I understood, though I hated it. He sank into the dark and used the beast as a shield.

Why are you letting the past keep us apart?

Wesley.

Yes, honey. I’m right here.

I fell under again for a while. My heart slowing, the drain competing with the fire in my veins and I realized it was the burn of the potion, trying to keep me asleep, but far too strong for the mortal half of me. Could I coax Finn into the light beforethere was nothing left for him to find? Toby said there would be a sacrifice for love, and if it meant my life, that was okay.I want to love you,I thought faintly.

I’m not perfect.

I snorted and rolled over, my strength fading as I said.No kidding.

Time vanished again. I blinked my eyes open, too weak to do much more than breathe. He lingered in the edge of the light, so close and yet too far away. I tried to reach for him, but my hand fell, strength waning from the constant drain, the spell keeping me under and killing me all at once. My hand dropped like a stone, lying to the side of where I rested, and I longed for him to reach me. If only he could hold me one last time. His sweet kisses meant more than anything I’d ever experienced in my life.

Okay to love you?

The whisper was so faint, I thought I’d misheard, but he crept forward, skin writhing and burning, healing and sizzling, only to repeat the cycle with every advance he took. The pain had to be excruciating. Tears dripped down my cheeks as I struggled to breathe, offering him every ounce of my quickly waning strength.

Yes. Love. I love you, too. Come to me, please. Let me hold you.Could he hear me?

Please.Finn reached for me, his amber eyes glowing bright, though the beast slid its dark ooze over him to pull him back again. The darkness peeled away from its body, but he fought his way forward. Dragged two inches back, only to crawl another foot forward, reaching for me.

Waiting for you.My eyes closed again, heart slowing as if I bled more than power. Perhaps the beast needed my life force to survive as well as my magic. I would have hoped to give Finn more. More time, more love, maybe something to cling to, but all I could do was pray that he’d find his way out of the dark andlean on those among the living, like Oberon, who had been his best friend for centuries, and Sebastian, who was the child of his heart.

The beast snarled, the entire sanctuary shaking from the roar, which turned from a monstrous scream to Finn’s human voice, crying and calling for me. I couldn’t open my eyes, and my lungs fought for each breath. Maybe it was a dumb idea to have taken all of that potion to keep Summer from yanking me out of Autumn’s grasp.

A soft snout nuzzled the tips of my fingers, followed by a wet tongue licking them carefully. I cracked a single eyelid to find the wolf, still half covered in dark ooze, rubbing his head on my hand which lay in the most faded edge of the light, just beyond the shield.

“Love you,” I whispered, unable to pet him, or reach for the man I loved. My breath vanished and I slipped into the dark, painless, floating, with only a lingering sense of sadness etched through my soul that I couldn’t hold him one last time.

Sixty-Three

FINN

The darkness gnawed at my resolve, trying to pull me back into its cold, merciless embrace. Each step toward Wesley felt like walking on broken glass, the light searing away the darkness that had embedded itself into my soul, blistering my skin and burning deep until my screams echoed from inside out.

The wolf and I fought our way forward together, the pain making us black out a handful of times and lose ground to the darkness. My heart stuttered, then raced, a maddening cycle that had me fearing it would burst. Wesley floated a half dozen yards away, the glow of light surrounding him like the final prize in a video game I’d been playing my entire life.

His chest rose slightly with labored breaths, his face pale and strained. The flavor of his power lingered on the back of my tongue as I unintentionally drained him to fuel the beast. I desperately reached for him even though it hurt.

But the darkness clawed at my mind, whispering insidious lies, trying to convince me that I wasn’t strong enough, that I would only hurt him if I got too close. The fear of losing control gripped me like a vise. The darkness fought to drag me back into the abyss where it thrived.

I suddenly understood my father’s hesitation to approach my mother’s light. Not that he feared her, rather he knew the pain of the darkness raking invisible claws over his soul to regain control.

Wesley reminded me the darkness had always been there, but it hadn’t always had control. My mother’s light kept me stable when I was young, but I’d crumbled from the weight of losing my family, setting free the monster. The wolf was right, I was weak.

Stronger together,the wolf told me as my human skin blistered from the touch of the light and his power healed it. The agonizing pain replaced by a warmth that I hadn’t felt in what seemed like an eternity.

I silently sank into the embrace of the wolf, his strength bolstering mine, and for the first time, I felt like I could finally shove back the darkness. We’d been fighting a long time, both believing we knew what was best. Both lacking the power necessary until we stood together united for one purpose:

Mate.The wolf said his tone filled with both possessiveness and affection.